Supporting mechanism for freight-car doors.



P. M. ELLIOTT. SUPPORTING MECHANISM FOR FREIGHT GAR DOORS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.18, 1913.

Patented June 16, 1914.

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272/6722? Zara Mi?! ff/Weas e3 P. M. ELLIOTT. SUPPORTING MECHANISM FOR FREIGHT GARDOORS. APPLICATION FILED APR.18, 19l3.

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l I I i I if i /7 j fliz'zzzazz UNITED STA'lT ES PATENT OFFICE.

PERCY m. ELLIOTT, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SUPPORTING- MECHANISM FOR FREIGHT-CAR DOORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 16, 191.4.

Applicationfiled April 18, 1913. Serial No. 762,088.

cars, and more particularly to means for supporting the doors and for closing the space between the upper edges of thedoors and the. overlying support.

In freight cars of the construction having sides composed ofmetal beams forming trusses outside of the wooden sheathing, it is necessary that the path of movement of the sliding doors should be spaced outwardly from the wooden sides'a distance equal to the thickness of the metal beams in order that the doorsmay slide out of the plane of the trussed beams. This arrangement requires that the track from which the door issuspended should project outwardly .from

the car sides a considerable distance, and owing to the consequent exposed position of the top of th'e door it is necessary that a thoroughly weather and dust proof joint should be provided between the upper edge of the door and the car side.

Heretofore considerable difliculty has been experienced in providing tracks for supporting the sliding. side doors of cars of the construction above. referred to, which will pre vent the ingress of water between tbetop of the door and the overlying beam forming the upper chord of a trussed car side.' The weight of the door is such as to subject the track to strains which-tend to separate it from the supporting flange of the longitudinalbeam to which the track is secured and to. thereby permit ingress of water. In my present invention I overcome this difliculty by so connecting the door track to the beam which supports the same as to at all times insure a weather-proof joint which will not be affected by the downward strain to which the track is subjected by the weight of the door.

My invention has for its object to rovide means for supporting and guiding t e door of a freight car of the type above re erred to, which will notonly securely support and properly guide the door in. its opening and closing movements, but will also afiord a weather-proof joint ,betweenthe top of the door and the top of the car door opening.

I A further object of my invention'is to proide means for supporting and guiding a sliding freight car door,-and for forming a weather-proof joint between the door when closed-and the door opening, which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to build, durable in use, and eflicient in operation.

My inventionwill be more fully disclosed hereinafter wit-h reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same is illustrated as embodied in two convenient and practical forms, and in whichi Figure 1-is a side elevational view of a freight car door and the adj acent portions of the freight car embodying my invention; Fig. 2 an enlarged-sectional; view on line 2, 2, Fig. 1, and Figs. 3, 4 and 5 views similar to Fig. 2, showing modified forms'of my invention Similar reference characters are used to designate similar parts in the several figures of-the drawings.

Reference letter A designates a freight car, only so; much thereof being shown as is necessary to fully illustrate my invention. The freight car to which my invention relates is of the type comprising metal beams form ing side trusses within which the wooden sheathing is secured. As this type of freight car is well-known it is not necessary to describethe same indetail.

Reference characters Bf and B designate the 'upper ends of diagonal .Z-beams forming parts of the trussed structure of the car s1 e.

C designates. the wooden sheathing located within the trussed metal beams and secured to them to form the inclosing side wall of the car. i

D designates the longitudinal beam above the car side upon which the roof structure is supported.

Extending at each side of the car. im-

mediately below the roof and preferably secured 'to the longitudinal beam D by bolts 0 is a Z-beam forming the upper chord of the side truss.

across the plane of the diagonal Z beaIns' B and B and the other beanie forming the side truss of the car.

It is necessary that a sliding door should have a path of movement outside of the longitudinal planeof the trussed beams of the side. Hence, it is necessary that the track for the door to slide upon should project laterally beyond the lower horizontal flange E of the -Z-beam E. I,,therefore,

provide a-horizontal plate F Which is supported by the butwardly projecting horizontal flange E of the Z-beam and 1s secured thereto by any. a suitable fastening of the outer edges of the horizontal. flange top edge of the door lies E of the supporting Z-beam E and the horizontal plate F. The second plate F is preferabl formed integrally with the plate F and is secured to the flangeE of the overlying supporting beam by'the same rivets j which support the plate F. The plates F and F may be conveniently constructed by bending the sheet metal of which they are formed longitudinally, so that the plate F will underlie the plate F, and by further bending the outer portion of the underlying plate F so as to form the depending flange f. a

In order to securely support the door and to insure freedom of sliding movement into open and closed positions, a pair of hangers H and H are secured to the top of the door adjacent the front and rear edges thereof. Each of these hangers comprises a pair of anti-friction rollers K and k, the former of which overlies the outer ed e of the plate F and directly supports the oorthereon. The lower smaller ide roller is of each door hanger vertica y underlies the outer pprtion of the plate F and should the door tilted longitudinally in applying force thereto for opening and closing it, such flower guide roller will engage beneath the track plate F and insure the free sliding of the, door. It will be observed that the lower guide rollerk lies outside of the depending ange f of the plate F, while the upwardly projecting vflangeGr' of the Z-beam along the within such down wardly projecting guide flange f. It will, therefore,.be clearthat the upper edge of the door is prevented from lateral movement either inwardly or' outwardly.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a slight modification of my lnvention, in which the underlying plate is formed separately from the plates F and F may be. conveniently secured to the overlying supporting flange E by thesame rivet-s f In Fig.4 I have shown another embodiment of my invention, in which the plate which forms" thesupporting tl'tLCkpfOI the door overlies the flange of the Z-bea n, while the second plate on which is formed the depending guard flange underlies the supporting flange of the Z-beam. In this figure reference character- F indicates the plate which forms the supporting track of the door, and reference character F the plate on which is formed the depending guard flange F. The same rivets 7 may be used for pass ing through registering holes in the plates F and F and the interposed flange E of the supporting Z-bar, thereby serving as a common means for securing both plates to the Z-bar.

In Fig. 5 I haveillustrated still another embodiment of my invention, in which reference character F designates the upper plate which constitutes the track supporting the door hangers, while reference character F designates the lower plate having formed on the outer edge thereof the depending guard flange f. In this form of my invention the plate F overlies the supporting flange E of the Z-bar E and is rigidly secured thereto by the rivets f while the underlying plate Flonly slightly overlaps the under surface of the supporting flange E and is rigidly secured to the overlying plate F by means of rivets f". Washers F surround the rivets f and are interposed between the adjacent surfaces of the platesF and F so as to space the said plates apart a distance corresponding to the thickness of the supporting flange E. In this form of my invention the plates F and F are connected together by' the rivets f and interposed washers F prior to being secured to the car side, so that they may be simultaneously readily applied to the supporting flange E by being driven laterally of the flange E so that the outer edge of said flange will be forced between the platesin the manner shown in Fig. 5-after which the rivets f are secured in registering holes -in the plate F and underlying supporting In each of the several embodiments of my invention above described, it will be observed that a permanent weather-proof joint is provided between the door supporting track and the Z-bar which extends along from the outer edge thereof Outside of the door. The same action occurs in the form of my'invention shown in Fig. 3, and the interior of the car is protected from. ingress of water in the same manner.

In the form of my invention shown in Fig. 4 the, underlying plate F serves to prevent any water which may leak between the overlying plate F and the supporting flange E, from passin'g'beneath such flange to the interior of.the car, inasmuch as the said plate F forms a permanent closecontact with the underside of the supporting flange E, and any water which may pass between the plate F and the upper surface of such flange flows outwardly over the plate F and.

downwardly around the flange f? thereof. Substantially thesame action takes Place in the form of my invention shown in Fig. 5 as that described in connection with Fig. 4. The washers F serve to form spaces between adjacent rivets f through which may flow any water which leaks between the plate F and the upper surface of the supporting flange E. Any such water is prevented fromflowing inwardly beneath the flange E by reason'of the close contact between the inner edge of theplate F and the under surface of the supporting flange-E of the Z-beam.

At the front edge of the door opening is provided a vertical bar M which forms a door post and projects beyondv the truss beam at the car side into the plane of the door seas to form a stop to limit the closing movement of the door. The lower end of the vertical angle bar M overlies and is se-, cured to the base channel beam N which forms the lower chord of the side truss. The

upper end of the angle bar M is secured by.

a gusset plate 0 to the horizontall'flange E. of the Z-beam E, as shown in Fig. 1.

R and R designatethe usual guides for the lower edge of the door, and S any suitable locking means for securing the door in closed position.

.Fromthe foregoing description it Wlll be observed that I have invented an improved construction of freight car door, particularly adapted for freight cars of the type having truss metal beams outslde of the wooden inclosing sides, and m which the door will not only be securely supported and freely guided in its opening. and closing movements in a plane outside of the longitudinal plane of the truss beams, but, in whicha weather-proof joint will be maintained between the door supporting track and the supporting beam above the door opening so as toprotect the interior of the car from the ingress of Water through the opening between the top ofthe .door and the car side.

What I claim is:

1; In a freight car, the combination with a side thereof having a door opening therethrough, of a sliding door closing said opening, a longitudinal metal beam extending along the upper edge of the car side and having a horizontal flange overlying the.

door opening,*a track for supporting the door comprising a horizontal plate lapping, and secured to the horizontal flange of said metal beam and a-second horizontal plate underlying the horizontal flange of said metal beam and having a. flange dependin below said horizontal flange in a vertica plane intermediate of the outer edge there-- of and the outer edge of said first plate, hangerssecured to the top of the door each comprising an upper roller overlying and supported on said first horizontal plate and a lower guide underlying said first plate and lying adjacent the outer surface of said depending flange, and a longitudinal flange projecting upwardly from the inner edge of the door and overlapping the inner face of'said depending flan e.-

2. In a freight car, t e combination with I a side thereof having a door opening therethrough, of a sliding door closing said opening, a longitudinal metal, beam extending along the upper ed e of the car side and having a horizonta flange overlying thev door opening, a track for supporting the door comprising a horizontal plate underlying and secured to the horizontal flange of said metal beam and a second horizontal plate underlying said first horizontal plate and having a flange depending below said horizontal flange in a vertical plane intermediate ofthe outer, edge thereof and the outer edge of said firstplate, hangers secured to the top of the door each comprising an upper roller overlyingand supported on said first horizontal plate and a lower guide underlying saidfirst plate and lying adj acentthe outer surface of said depending flange, and a longitudinal'flange projecting upwardly from the inner edge of the door and overlapping the inner face of said depending flange. I

3. In a frei ht car, the combination with a side thereof having a door opening therethrough, of a sliding door closing said 0 ening, a longitudinal metal beam exten ing along the upper edge of the car side and having a horizontal flange overlying the door opening, a track for supporting the door comprising a horizontal plate underly- 7 ing and secured to the horizontal flange of guide underlying said first plate and lying adjacent the outer surface of said depending flange, and a longitudinal flange projecting upwardly from the inner edge of the door and overlapping the inner face of said dependingflange.

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name.

PERCY M. ELLIOTT. Witnesses:

GEO. L. WiLKmsoN, E. M. ANDERSON. 

